Train enthusiasts had the opportunity to see an impressive Tornado steam engine pass through Upper Warlingham Station on its way to Sheffield Park last Tuesday, 10th September. At 10.30am it passed through the station full of passengers who had booked tickets and boarded the train at Victoria for the special trip to the Bluebell Railway. The train made the return trip later the same day, travelling backwards being pulled by a diesel engine, arriving back at Victoria Station at 10.15pm.

Local resident, Roger Easter, who saw the Tornado as it passed through Upper Warlingham, said: It was a real blast from the past! Having been a keen train spotter from many years ago I recently joined the Bluebell Railway society and couldn't believe my luck when I learned that this wonderful Tornado steam train was going to pass by locally on its way to the Bluebell Railway!"

First steamed in 2008, after a 19 year project to fund and build the locomotive, Tornado was built to be not a replica, but the 50th A1. The original 49 A1s were built for the London & North Eastern Railway (LNER) between 1948 and 1949. Sadly after the withdrawal of steam in 1968 none of the LNER A1 class engines were saved from the scrapper's torch. In 1990 a group of enthusiasts founded a trust (A1 Steam Locomotive Trust) to return this missing link.

The locomotive is currently painted in British Railway's Express Passenger Blue, a livery which was carried by the A1s between 1948 and the early 1950s. Tornado has 3 cylinders, 6 driving wheels and a firebox of 50sq.ft. Tornado is a regular locomotive for Steam Dreams, often seen on trips along the East Coast Mainline to York. Whilst limited to 75 mph today, A1s are capable of achieving speeds in excess of 100mph. During its short life Tornado has twice hauled the Royal Train, taken part in a BBC Top Gear Race with Jeremy Clarkson and had its very own programme made for the BBC, a documentary called 'Absolutely Chuffed'.